Canada

Last year, the Toronto gay community was shook but a number of disappearances in the Gay Village area. While most shooed away the thought of a real problem occurring, the police were not so sure.

Then last week, 66-year-old landscaper Bruce McArthur was arrested by the police under the suspicion that he was involved with the disappearances of two men named Selim Esen and Andrew Kinsman.

Afterwards, it was discovered that McArthur was arrested back in 2001 for assaulting another man. Part of his sentencing for that assault was that McArthur was banned from entering a large section of Toronto that includes the Gay Village.

Now, news is hitting that McArthur is being charged for the murders of three additional men.

In addition to Esen and Kinsman, Majeed Kayhan, Soroush Mahmudi, and Dean Lisowick disappeared between the years of 2012 and 2017.

It was Toronto Det. Sgt. Hank Idsinga who shared this news today and said that the dismembered remains of “at least” three victims were found in the bottom of large planters in the backyard of a Toronto home where McArthur worked.

"The city of Toronto has never seen anything like this," Idsinga said. "It is unprecedented and draining. He's an alleged serial killer and he's taken some steps to cover his tracks."

Now, police will be investigating about 30 properties that McAruthur worked on.

In addition that, police now say that McArthur may have been targeting more people in the city.

"It encompasses more than the gay community. It encompasses the City of Toronto," Idsinga said.

Last year, we shared with you the news of gay men going missing in Toronto, Canada.

Many, like Global News Toronto, were concerned that the multiple missing men from the Gay Village was a sign that there was a killer on the loose.

There are growing concerns in Toronto’s Gay Village over the number of men who have gone missing in recent years from the Church and Wellesley area. As Caryn Lieberman reports, police aren’t confirming a connection between the men, but community members have their theories. - globalnews.ca

Unfortunately, that turned out to be the truth.

Earlier this week, police arrested a man who they think is responsible for at least two deaths out of the missing men from the Gay village.

66-year-old landscaper Bruce McArthur was charged with first-degree murder due to the assumed deaths of Selim Esen and Andrew Kinsman.

“We believe he is responsible for the deaths of Mr. Esen and Mr. Kinsman, and we believe he is responsible for the deaths of other men who have yet to be identified,” Toronto Det. Sgt. Hank Idsinga said.

“In other words, we believe there are other victims,” he added.

Now we have gotten word of McArthur’s legal history.

You see, it seems that McArthur was barred from even stepping foot near the Gay village in Toronto back in 2001.

McArthur was convicted of assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm. Then in 2013, he was sentenced to two years in prison and three years on probation.

As part of that sentencing, he wasn’t supposed to go anywhere near the area within University Ave to the West, Bloor St. to the North, Sherbourne St. to the East, and College/Carlton to the South.

Toronto lawyer Liam O’Connor (who isn't connected to this case) spoke to Metro News and said that this restriction was probably to protect male prostitutes in the area (who were McArthur’s first victims).

“An educated guess then about that, is the area they’ve asked him to stay out of is an area where there was probably high prostitution,” O’Connor said.

A Toronto gay couple were sad to find their festive holiday decorations vandalized.

Adam Broker and Chirs Barsnicki have been known for the past 12 years for their big Christmas lights and inflatable lawn decorations to celebrate the the holiday month. But this year, they were sad to find that three of these decorations were slashed by knifes.

“I was devastated, I was furious,” Broken told CTV News.

His partner Barsnicki shared similar words as he said, “I was devastated, more violated, because I do this for the kids in the neighborhood.”

Luckily, the two installed cameras to watch over their lawn so they know who did it (or at least, what type of people did it).

Part of Barsnicki’s feelings of violation are because the video footage caught a group of five teenagers as the culprits.

While Broker says that there’s ultimately about $500 worth of damages done to their lawn, Barsnicki doesn’t want any money back. He just wants the teens to give to local charities or to commit some community service.

Now we’ll be honest, this isn’t a story about a gay teen boy. Instead, it’s about a teen girl.

Yes, that shouldn’t matter, but often female driven stories don’t trend well on sites like Instinct.

That said, when you have such a charming and sincere story as Elle Mills’s, you have to share it no matter what.

But who’s Elle Mills? Mills is a 19-year-old Canadian youtube who creates stories in her videos. The videos are not quite vlogs but they do follow events in her everyday life (just with a little more creativity put into them).

But as popular as Mills has gotten over the years, it seems that there’s one question she can’t seem to escape. “Elle, are you gay?”

This question has pooped up so much and her personal life has transitioned to the point that she feels it’s finally time to answer. And so, she did in the best way she could, she made a video about it.

If you’re wondering how her coming out went, what the reactions of her friends and family were, and why this Instinct Writer immediately went to subscribe to her, then check out the video down below.

Many countries are looking back at their past treatment of gay men and LGBTQ people as a whole with regret and remorse.

Earlier this year, the UK apologized for their convictions of gay men in the mid-20th century, and Germany’s Parliament unanimously voted to pardon 50,000 men convicted of homosexuality in the past. Now, Canada is doing the same.

Later today (November 28th), Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wil apologize for the Canadian gay purge of the past. To go with that, the government will also be paying over $100 million to those who were affected during the time.

That said, the government’s not just shilling it out without a plan. The federal court will have to approve the details of payment before any of the thousands of victims see a cent.

But that’s not all. The government is also donating $250,000 to charity projects focused on fighting discrimination and homophobia.

Plus, new legislation is being introduced today to erase the criminal records of people who have been arrested and convicted for homosexual acts.

While Canadian citizens will have to apply for this removal of criminal records, families of those deceased can do so for their late loved ones.

News has released that last month, a young gay man who had escaped Chechnya into Canada was attacked by Chechen sympathizers.

Allegedly, what happened was that the young man from Chechnya was living in an undisclosed location in Toronto. He started talking to another man via a dating app and decided to meet up with this new romantic hopeful.

Sadly, when the young gay man got there he wasn’t greeted by just one person but two. The two men overpowered him and placed him in the backseat of a car before yelling and swearing at him. They reportedly said things like his homosexually had disgraced Chechnya.

But, luckily the young man was released physically unharmed.

Even though the victim has refused to report the incident, for fear of retribution, Toronto police have started an investigation into it.

In addition, this has caused a stir in the Chechen refugee community (those who went public) who had escaped from the country to Canada in hopes to finally be free of the hate and persecution.

Meanwhile, the Canadian government is still choosing to not comment on the entire situation.

Chrystia Freeland / via Youtube @TheNational

You see, word got out last month that there was a secret (though, not so secret anymore) program run by Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland that was actively helping at least 31 gay Chechen men escape Chechnya and enter Canada.

First, the gay men would escape their homes and find refuge with the charity/activist group Russian LGBT Network. From there, with the help of both organizations the men would travel through a sort of underground railroad until they had reached Canada.

After that, programs of assistance have been created to help the Chechen men integrate into Canadian life. For instance, housing has been offered, language training is being given, mental-health counseling is made available when needed, and programs are helping them to find work.

So far, besides the Canadian secret mission being leaked to the public, there were no issues in this mission to help gay Chechen men… until now.

Again, an investigation is ongoing to find out who these two attackers were and if they truly had ties to Chechnya.

And while the Canadian government is officially saying nothing about the entire operation and incident, they might be pulling some strings in the shadows as well.